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Isaac ben Samuel

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Not to be confused withIsaac ben Samuel of Acre.

Isaac ben Samuel the Elder(c. 1115 – c. 1184), also known as theRi ha-Zaken(Hebrew:ר "י הזקן), was a Frenchtosafistand Biblical commentator. He flourished atRameruptandDampierre,Francein the twelfth century. He is the father ofElhanan ben Isaac of Dampierre.

Rabbeinu Tam
Isaac ben Samuel
Isaac ben Abraham of DampierreJudah ben Isaac Messer LeonAbraham ben NathanSamson ben Abraham of SensBaruch ben Isaac


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Biography[edit]

Through his mother he was a great-grandson ofRashiand through his father he was a grandson ofSimhah ben Samuel of Vitry.He was surnamed "ha-Zaḳen" (the elder) to distinguish him from another tosafist of the same name,Isaac ben Abrahamsurnamed "ha-Baḥur" (the younger). He is often quoted as R. Isaac of Dampierre.[1]but it seems that he lived first atRamerupt,where his maternal grandfather resided.[2]It was also at Ramerupt that he studied under his uncleRabbeinu Tam[3]after the latter had gone toTroyes,Isaac b. Samuel directed his school.

Isaac settled at Dampierre later, and founded there a flourishing and well-attended school.[4]It is said that he had sixty pupils, each of whom, besides being generally well grounded inTalmud,knew an entire treatise by heart, so that the whole Talmud was stored in the memories of his pupils.[5]As he lived underPhilip Augustus,at whose hands theJewssuffered much, Isaac prohibited the buying of confiscated Jewish property, and ordered that any so bought be restored to its original owner. A particular interest attaches to one of his responsa, in which he relies on the oral testimony of his aunt, the wife of R. Isaac b. Meïr, and on that of the wife of R.Eleazar of Worms,a great-granddaughter of Rashi.[6]

He died, according toHeinrich Graetz[7]about 1200; according toHenri Gross[8]between 1185 and 1195; and as he is known to have reached an advanced age, Gross supposes that he was not born later than 1115. On the other hand, Michael[9]says that as Isaac b. Samuel was spoken of as "the sainted master"[10]a term generally given tomartyrs,he may have been killed at the same time as his son Elhanan (1184).

Tosafot[edit]

Isaac's tosafot completed the commentary of Rashi on the Talmud (Rommincluded in his edition of the Talmud the commentary ofAbraham of Montpellieron Kiddushin, misidentified as Isaac's tosafot.). He also compiled and edited with great erudition all the preceding explanations to Rashi's commentary. His first collection was entitledTosefot Yeshanim,which, however, was afterward revised and developed. He is quoted on almost every page of the Tosafot, and in various works, especially in theSefer ha-Terumahof his pupilBaruch ben Isaacof Worms, and in theOr ZaruaofIsaac ben Moses.

Isaac is mentioned as a Biblical commentator byJudah ben Eliezer,[11]who quotes also a work of Isaac's entitledYalkutei Midrash;[12]byIsaac ha-Levi;byHezekiah ben Manoahin hisḤazzeḳuni;and in two other commentaries.[13]Isaac is supposed to be the author also of several liturgical poems, of a piyyuṭ to thehafṭarah,[14]and of a piyyuṭ forPurim.[15]The authorship of these piyyuṭim may, however, belong to the liturgical writerIsaac ben Samuel of Narbonne.


References[edit]

  1. ^Maimuniyyot,Ma'akalot Asurot, No. 5;Shibbolei ha-Leket2:40
  2. ^Sefer ha-Nayyar,p. 162;Maimuniyyot,l.c.
  3. ^Luria, Responsa, No. 29
  4. ^Or Zarua,1:126
  5. ^Menahem,Tzedah la-Derek,Introduction
  6. ^Sefer ha-Nayyar,p. 167a
  7. ^Gesch.vi. 210
  8. ^Gallia Judaica,p. 161, and "R. E. J." vii. 76
  9. ^Or ha-Ḥayyim,p. 512
  10. ^Sefer ha-Terumah,§§ 131, 161;Tosafot,Zevachim 12b, 59b
  11. ^Minḥat Yehudah,p. 8b
  12. ^ib. p. 22a
  13. ^seeKerem Ḥemed,vii. 68
  14. ^Landshuth,Ammudei haAvodah,p. 108
  15. ^Machzor Vitry,No. 255; compare Luzzatto in Berliner'sMagazin,v. 27, Hebr. part
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Isaac ben Samuel ha-Zaken".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.It has the following bibliography:
  • Azulai,Shem ha-Gedolim, i.;
  • Michael, Or haḤayyim, pp. 511–513;
  • Isaac Hirsch Weiss,Dor, iv. 286, 342, 349;
  • Heinrich Grätz,Gesch. 3d ed., vi. 210, 211, 214;
  • Henri Gross,Gallia Judaica, pp. 161–168, 638;
  • idem, in R. E. J. vii. 76;
  • Adolf Neubauer,ib. xvii. 67;
  • Leopold Zunz,Z. G. p. 33, passim.
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